Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory. PAPER: 3 / 6

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

One of the most popular needs theories is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow proposed that motivation is the result of a person's attempt at fulfilling five basic needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization. According to Maslow, these needs can create internal pressures that can influence a person's behavior.

Physiological needs are those needs required for human survival such as air, food, water, shelter, clothing and sleep. As a manager, you can account for physiological needs of your employees by providing comfortable working conditions, reasonable work hours and the necessary breaks to use the bathroom and eat and/or drink. 

Safety needs include those needs that provide a person with a sense of security and well-being. Personal security, financial security, good health and protection from accidents, harm and their adverse affects are all included in safety needs. As a manager, you can account for the safety needs of your employees by providing safe working conditions, secure compensation (such as a salary) and job security, which is especially important in a bad economy. 

Social needs, also called love and belonging, refer to the need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. Social needs are important to humans so that they do not feel alone, isolated and depressed. Friendships, family and intimacy all work to fulfill social needs. As a manager, you can account for the social needs of your employees by making sure each of your employees know one another, encouraging cooperative teamwork, being an accessible and kind supervisor and promoting a good work-life balance. 

Esteem needs refer to the need for self-esteem and respect, with self-respect being slightly more important than gaining respect and admiration from others. As a manager, you can account for the esteem needs of your employees by offering praise and recognition when the employee does well, and offering promotions and additional responsibility to reflect your belief that they are a valued employee. 

Self-actualization needs describe a person's need to reach his or her full potential. The need to become what one is capable of is something that is highly personal. While I might have the need to be a good parent, you might have the need to hold an executive-level position within your organization. Because this need is individualized, as a manager, you can account for this need by providing challenging work, inviting employees to participate in decision-making and giving them flexibility and autonomy in their jobs. 

 

As the name of the theory indicates, Maslow believed that these needs exist in a hierarchical order. This progression principle suggests that lower-level needs must be met before higher-level needs. The deficit principle claims that a once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator because an individual will take action only to satisfied unmet needs. If you look at this pyramid you can see how Maslow's needs are organized with basic physiological needs, such as air, food, water and sleep, at the bottom and the idea of self-actualization, or when a person reaches the full potential in life, at the top. Again, according to Maslow, before a person can take action to satisfy a need at any level on this pyramid the needs below it must already be satisfied.

Limitations of Maslow's Hierarchy

While Maslow's hierarchy makes sense from an intuitive standpoint, there is little evidence to support its hierarchical aspect. In fact, there is evidence that contradicts the order of needs specified by the model. For example, some cultures appear to place social needs before any others. Maslow's hierarchy also has difficulty explaining cases such as the "starving artist" in which a person neglects lower needs in pursuit of higher ones. Finally, there is little evidence to suggest that people are motivated to satisfy only one need level at a time, except in situations where there is a conflict between needs.

Even though Maslow's hierarchy lacks scientific support, it is quite well-known and is the first theory of motivation to which many people they are exposed. To address some of the issues of Maslow's theory, Clayton Alderfer developed the ERG theory, a needs-based model that is more consistent with empirical findings.

Psychology and Sociology Skills for PR Practitioners. PAPER: 3

How Much of Psychology and Sociology Does A PR Practitioner  Needs To Succeed

As brand advocates, and champions of public messaging and consumption, PR professionals are responsible for understanding human nature and recognizing that analytics are ever changing. Public Relations is a fascinating niche in the world of communication because it meets at the intersection of creativity and analytics. It’s a beautiful marriage between your left and right brain because you need facts and insight to support and develop your creative, strategic direction.

Unlike advertising, Public Relations can conduct more of a direct dialogue with a brand’s consumer. And with the rise of social media, the environment to engage with people has shifted, but core fundamentals and principles remain.

PR relays information that is convincing, effective and engaging to consumers. Translated: we have to know who we’re talking to. How can we effectively communicate to someone who isn’t ready to receive our message? 

All Brands Have a Loyal Audience, Get to Know Yours (Psychology)

If you can be brutally honest with yourself about who buys your product, not who you want to buy your product, you’re on the right track

To identify who buys your product habitually, do your research. Focus groups, online surveys and interactions on your social media properties are all great indicators and valuable insights into your brand loyalists. The people who participate in these forms of communication want a relationship with your brand. If they are actively posting on your Facebook page, or re-tweeting your posts/ coupon deals – they are into you. The people who like your page and then fall off the face of the earth, they are not that into you.

It’s important to find things out about the individual and how they are using your product. Are they a single mother? Do they shop more online or in-store? What are their attitudes towards politics, religion, cuisine? All these idiosyncrasies will shape how they digest information and how they can be reached to either further their brand loyalty, or diverge to try something new. Some general things to ask that dive beyond age, race and economic status include:

Marital status

Kids or no kids

Pets or no pets

Average hours worked per week

Average hours spent working out

Where they get their information (TV, Radio, Blogs)

Who they trust for advice (friends, parents, co-workers)

These key insights, among others, help to frame who you are talking to and how they want to receive information. A single mother of three who works 45 hours a week and doesn’t have a smartphone is going to receive and process information much differently than a married mother of two who stays at home with the kids and blogs daily about motherhood.

Focus on the keepers, the non-conformists will come around eventually, but it’s not worth your time or dollars to focus on them. They are still trying to figure things out for themselves.

Every Individual Has a Circle of Influence, Introduce Yourself (Sociology)

So, now that we’ve identified who your core audience is, we can start to cast a wider net. That one loyal individual has a circle of influence that expands well beyond their physical connections. Knowing who you’re talking to lends insight into two things that will help you grow your consumer base:

1. Who they communicate with, and

2. Where they are apt to turn to for communication (media).

Social Media allows peers to communicate easily and effectively about every subject under the sun from sports to fashion and politics to safety recalls. If you give your loyalists a reason to share your message with their friends, they will. Cost savings, industry research, fun surveys, etc. are all engaging ways to let your loyalists share your message. If you make it consistent with your brand and valuable to your consumer, it is easy to push that message forward. If, for example, Viva sent me a coupon or “what using Viva says about you” statement, I would likely either send it to my friends via email or post on Facebook and Twitter. I am now working for the brand without evening knowing it, but I wouldn’t mind anyway because I like them.

Beyond friends and family, consumers get their information from a third-party resource, so get to know that audience as well. TV, Print, Radio and the Internet are all places where information exists for consumption. Where your loyalists go for news, gossip, local happenings, etc. is where you should focus your attention. Use yourself as a litmus test. Where do you go for news? Whether it’s a magazine you get in the mail, or a news aggregate that brings stories you are interested in to a centralized app on your smartphone – you have your favorites. Everyone does. Once you know where your consumers are, you can tailor your PR efforts to reach the loyalists, and others like them.

PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY SKILLS FOR PR PRACTITIONERS

1.      Data collection skills

2.      Ability to analyze data

3.      Knowledge on diverse issues

4.      Leadership skills

Ways of Managing Conflict in Organizations. PAPER: 3/7/14

Ways of Managing Conflict in Organizations

Conflict can be viewed negatively or positively.

Conflict is inevitable in small businesses. Conflict can arise from a variety of sources, and between supervisors and subordinates, between co-workers, and between employees and customers. Managers and organizations can choose to see conflict as inherently negative, acting to suppress it at every opportunity, or as inherently positive, leveraging conflict to affect positive change.

Positive Perspective

Accept conflict as a natural growth process and influence your company culture to view constructive conflict positively. Conflict can be an asset to your small business if it is handled properly. It can help your organization to learn from its mistakes and identify areas of needed improvement. Innovation can be inspired from creative solutions to internal or external conflicts, and new ways of thinking can emerge.

Grievance Procedure

Create a formal grievance procedure for all employees. Let employees at all levels of your organization know that their voices will always be heard, and respond promptly and reasonably to employees issues. This can prevent bad feelings from festering and growing into resentment and bitterness. Conflict is best handled quickly and openly. If your company culture is sufficiently friendly toward constructive conflict, your staff should see the value of letting their complaints, ideas and issues be heard.

Get to the Cause

Focus on deep-rooted causes rather than superficial effects when assessing conflicts. Parties to a conflict often claim to have issues with the behavior of co-workers or the outcome of company policies and work procedures, but these issues are likely being caused by something deeper. Attempting to resolve the conflict by addressing surface issues will rarely create meaningful change or lasting solutions. Look deeper to address the reasons that incidents occur.

As an example, if a supervisor finds himself constantly in conflict with a loyal employee due to falling productivity levels, the supervisor may naturally want to address the employee behavior head-on. Upon closer analysis, however, the supervisor may realize that the employee has been increasingly dissatisfied with his job ever since last year’s disappointing performance review. Revisiting the review with the employee may be much more effective than creating incremental performance goals for him.

Equal Voices

Give all parties to a conflict an equal voice, regardless of their position, length of service or political influence. Conflict participants can become defensive if they feel they are being marginalized or are going through a process leading to a predetermined outcome. It can be tempting to take the word of managers over front-line employees, or to take the word of a loyal employee over a new employee, but remember that your most trusted associates are not necessarily infallible. Go beyond simply giving everyone an equal chance to speak; give their arguments an equal weight in your mind when mediating a conflict.

Resolution Participation

Involve all parties, if possible, when drafting conflict resolutions. The theory of Management By Objectives (MBO) states that employees are generally more committed to goals that they have helped to create. The same holds true for conflict resolutions. There is more than one side to every conflict, and all sides should benefit from conflict resolution. Seek resolutions that will prevent the conflict from occurring again, rather than simply delaying a repeat occurrence.

Management By Objectives. PAPER: 2/11

The father of modern corporate management Peter Drucker is often considered to be the world’s most influential corporate guru. His ideas and thoughts revolutionized corporate management in the later half of the 20th century.

Drucker questioned why in both the classical and human relations schools of management, effectiveness was automatically considered to be a natural and expected outcome. According to him effectiveness was more important than efficiency and was the foundation of every organization.
He thereby developed Management by Objectives (MBO) through his 1954 book ‘The Practice of Management’. MBO deals with a certain type of interaction, specific to a manager and his employee. MBO is based on the thinking that various hierarchies within companies need to be integrated. There was a need for commitment, responsibility and maturity. There was a need for a common challenge. Here MBO becomes a process by which the objectives of an organization are agreed to and decided between the management and the employees, this way the employees understand what is expected of them and help set their own individual goals. Therefore they attain both their personal goals and the organization’s targets.

Every level of management in the organization participates in the strategic planning process and creation of performance systems. The managers of the firm are expected to participate in the strategic planning process to ensure the effectiveness in the implementing of the plan. The managers are expected to apply a range of performance systems, designed to help in the effective functioning of the organization.
An MBO system calls for each level of managers to identify their goals for ever area they are responsible for. These goals are shared then with their individual units. Shared targets guide individuals in fulfilling their role. The role of the management now is to monitor and evaluate performance. The focus is on future rather than on past. They check progress frequently and over a set period of time. There is external and internal control in this system with routine assessments. An evaluation is done to understand as to which extent the goals have been met.
An important aspect of the MBO approach is this agreement between employees and managers regarding performance which is open to evaluation.  The principle is that when employees are involved with the goal setting and choosing the course of action to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities. There is a link between organizational goals and performance targets of the employees.
In MBO goals are expected to be SMART, i.e.

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic, and
• Time bound.

Advantages of MBO:

• Objectives are discussed befor being agreed upon
• There is partcipation in setting of goals, deciding the action course and in making decisions
• There is increased motivation and job satisfaction
• Relationships between the managers and those under them improve
• There is better communication within the organisation and increased coordination
• Managers can ensure that objectives of the subordinates are linked to the organization’s objectives
• Objectives can be set at all levels and in various departments
• Objectives can be set indivually for each department especially in promotion, marketing, and financial planning
• MBO can be applied in any organisation
• Traits of MBO can be found in industries like the electronic media where performance objectives are carefully established and monitored, particularly in the areas of promotion, marketing, and financial planning
• In an MBO system, employees are more self-directed than boss-directed

Disadvantages of MBO:

• It has to be systematically done
• There is more importance given to the setting of the goals than on the actual outcome or course of action
• It may lead to polarization of efforts, whereby, people or departments are not motivated to look beyond their own targets and help others
• It does not take into consideration, the environment I which the goals are set, like available resources, stake holders, etc
• To avoid potential problems SMART and SMARTER objectives need to be agreed upon
• There is no stimulation of innovation
• Managers start believing in the concept of an “ideal employee” and evaluate their subordinates based on what they expect they should be
• Targets can be misreported and objective setting may become counter –productive to the organization
• Quality of goals set may be poorer or too unrealistic
• It is time-consuming to implement and difficult to maintain
• Setting production targets may encourage resources to meet those targets through whatever means necessary, which usually results in poor quality
• It is not easy to identify all the objectives